Nitish Issues Ultimatum To RJD, Asks It To Decide on Tejashwi’s Resignation Within Four Days

Nitish has left it to the RJD to take a call on the resignation of Tejashwi as Bihar Deputy Chief Minister. At the same time, the Bihar Chief Minister has asserted that had such a thing happened with his JD (U), he would have taken a decision (on sacking) by now.

New Delhi: A day after the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) legislators resolved that Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav need not resign as a charge sheet has not yet been framed against him, Janata Dal (United) chief and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has given RJD four days’ time to decide on Tejashwi’s removal.

The Bihar Chief Minister had on Tuesday called an emergency meeting of JD (U) MPs, MLAs and party office-bearers to discuss the CBI raids on residences and other premises of party ally and RJD chief Lalu Yadav and his family members, including his son Tejashwi Yadav.

According to sources, Nitish told the meeting that he has always adopted a zero-tolerance policy on corruption. He declared that had such a thing happened within his own party, he would have acted by now. But as the RJD was an ally and party to the government, it was incumbent on it to take a decision on Tejashwi’s resignation from the post of Deputy Chief Minister. Nitish gave his alliance partner four days to decide on the issue. More: Is Bihar Political Scenario Approaching A Flashpoint?

He also felt that Tejashwi could explain his position or issue a clarification regarding allegations of corruption levelled against him.

This development in JD (U) comes in the backdrop of RJD making it clear on Monday that Tejashwi would not resign from the Nitish Kumar cabinet. The RJD stand is despite lodging of an FIR against Tejashwi for amassing benami properties in Delhi and Patna.

This is the first time that Nitish has come out in public about the raids on Lalu Yadav and his family.

Meanwhile, the BJP, which has been demanding sacking of Tejashwi Yadav from the Nitish Cabinet, has already offered its support to JD (U) from outside if RJD walks out of the Grand Alliance on the issue. State BJP president Nityanand Roy is already on record that his party MLAs would provide outside support to the Nitish Government in case of a split in the ruling coalition.

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[…] The Bihar Deputy Chief Minister, along with his elder brother Tej Pratap Yadav, had earlier attended the Cabinet meeting called by Nitish Kumar on Wednesday. Speaking to media later, Tejashwi asserted that he too had pledged zero tolerance against corruption when he took over as the Deputy Chief Minister and not a single case of corruption had been reported in any of the departments he held. More: Nitish Issues Ultimatum To RJD, Asks It To Decide on Tejashwi’s Resignation Within Four Days […]